While in India, do as the Indians do and mind your manners, say namaste and don’t kiss women while greeting them — that is the message given to British companies keen to set up shop in the country.

While in India, do as the Indians do and mind your manners, say namaste and don’t kiss women while greeting them — that is the message given to British companies keen to set up shop in the country.

The UK India Business Council organised a crash course in etiquette this week for companies based in and around Birmingham, and told them that it was important to understand how people in India operate.

At the Insight India Day organised by UKIBC with bank major HSBC, Dalip Puri, head of multicultural banking UK, said there was much potential because of shared cultural attitudes between India and the UK.

He said the British people understood the Indian psyche because of the presence of a large group of immigrants from India.

Puri said, “It’s very important to understand how people in India operate.

The cultural awareness bit is absolutely essential.”

“The most common mistake people do is they educate themselves on the Indian market but don’t try to understand the financial system, the banking landscape, the legal system and so on.”